In this age of government censorship, online spying and cybercrime, you have to value your security and anonymity. When you’re binging your favorite TV shows and movies using a VPN, you want the fastest streaming available — while still ensuring your safety is ironclad.

CyberGhost and TunnelBear are two solid VPN options, but which is best for protecting your privacy and fastest at streaming your favorite content? The answer breaks down into several important factors.

1Price Points

When it comes to VPNs, the price is always a deciding factor. Be careful, though, as you don’t want to sacrifice quality and security to save a few bucks up front.

Offers a free option, but it’s limited to the first 500 MB of use. For most content consumers, that’s not enough to test out how robust the features are.

With free VPNs, you must contend with pop-up ads, and you’re left wondering what motivates the service provider since they aren’t making money from your subscription. As a general rule, you should always pay for your VPN service to ensure they aren’t trying to profit by selling data.

2Security, Protection and Privacy

Using a VPN is to protect your data, identity, and ensure your privacy when accessing region-blocked online content. You want to keep your search history away from the prying eyes of your government and ISPs and protect your identity from lurking cybercriminals.

Winner: CyberGhost is based in Romania; ideal because the country is not part of the 5/9/14 Eyes alliances. Countries that make up the Eyes alliances are intelligence-sharing partnerships that spy on citizens and swap data for supposed national security purposes. CyberGhost offers a strict no-logging policy. They only check to see which days you logged on and save that info for only 24 hours.

Loser:TunnelBear admits to logging some data, including when you connect, which operating system you use, and payment and transaction information. TunnelBear is based in Canada; apart of the 5 Eyes alliance.

3Reliability and Performance

Speed:

Winner: CyberGhost has over 3,000 servers in more than 60 countries, is generally more powerful and consistent in speed tests.

Loser: TunnelBear’s processing is slower, and most users rank it average at best. The servers are limited to 20 countries, and can’t compare with a powerhouse like CyberGhost.

Torrenting:

Winner: CyberGhost has dedicated torrenting, P2P sharing, and streaming servers with high capacity, which means you’ll get the content you want when you want it.

Loser: TunnelBear does not support torrenting or other P2P sharing.

Interface and Setup:

Tie: We tested out the functionality and interface and came to the conclusion that both platforms are equally smooth, intuitive, simple to use, and easy to set up with installation wizards.

Until recently, TunnelBear was criticized for an archaic and clunky interface, but they’ve since improved and caught up with the competition.

Netflix and Chill:

Winner: CyberGhost allows users to circumvent geo-blocking, which is what usually prevents you from being able to use streaming services like Netflix. That said, while CyberGhost does support Netflix, it can’t bypass Hulu’s firewalls.

Loser: TunnelBear is, unfortunately, unable to avoid any geo-restricted blocking, which means no Netflix or Hulu.

Multi-Platform Usability:

Winner: CyberGhost supports Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux and mobile devices. It also supports far more routers than TunnelBear.

Loser: While TunnelBear supports most operating systems, it offers little to no Linux support, which, for users looking for added security, is a big letdown. TunnelBear also lacks support for Kindle tablets and most smart TVs.

Kill Switch Features:

VPN users often overlook the importance of a kill switch. If your VPN connection suddenly drops, which can happen without you knowing, then you can be left unprotected, and your data will no longer be encrypted or secure.

Ideally, opt for VPNs that come with an automatic kill switch that will block Internet access during a drop, and only let you back online once the VPN connection is reestablished and safe.

Tie: We researched both companies for kill switches, and both offer this crucial feature, so it’s a tie.

Conclusion

We put both services to the test for you and hope our overview answers any questions you had.

While both platforms offer above-average service, we have to recommendCyberGhost VPN as the clear winner for all your VPN privacy, security, and performance needs.

Nick Soucy is passionate about cybersecurity and cutting-edge technologies—especially those that safeguard online privacy and First Amendment expression. He also has a deep curiosity about artificial general intelligence (AGI) and the philosophical sciences of futurism and transhumanist evolution.

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